Holy week around the world

March 25, 2013

Images from around the world as Christians begin to celebrate holy week

Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images

18of50

Penitents start their panata, or vow, in the morning as a form of penance during holy week on March 28, 2013 in Pampanga, Philippines. The carrying of a cross or flagellation (Penitensya in Filipino) is an extreme act of mortification in which the penitent scourges himself by whipping his own flesh. Although condemned by the Catholic church and frowned upon in the modern age, hundreds of Filipino faithfuls still practice it to this day and has become a part of Philippine culture and tradition in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images

18of50

Penitents start their panata, or vow, in the morning as a form of penance during holy week on March 28, 2013 in Pampanga, Philippines. The carrying of a cross or flagellation (Penitensya in Filipino) is an extreme act of mortification in which the penitent scourges himself by whipping his own flesh. Although condemned by the Catholic church and frowned upon in the modern age, hundreds of Filipino faithfuls still practice it to this day and has become a part of Philippine culture and tradition in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation.